Aramasa

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price:  2462 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Sake, cooked tuna on a stick x2, tiny squid and scallop sashimi
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes

Aramasa was a delightful find.  I was in Oppama to meet a friend and afterwards went looking for an interesting place to eat.  I was lured into Aramasa because they had a window where they were selling items to go, including delicious looking tuna on skewers.  I had to try it out.

Gobo root

Unfortunately I've tried to figure out where it was precisely based on geo-tagging on the photos I took but I have been unable to.  I have tried to guess the approximate area, but if I ever go back there I'll update the markers on the maps to be more accurate.

Sliced roasted tuna

It's a tiny bar, with a heavy emphasis on seafood and sake, but not they typical sashimi.  They seem to like to cook some of their fish, and the mandatory appetizer was cooked thinly sliced dark tuna meat.  I ordered some sake and was presented with 5 different bottles to pick from.  I took the recommendation over my misgivings (I dislike sweet, fruity sake and prefer dry) but I wanted to appear compliant.  Then I was poured an extra glass of something the bartender said was interesting...a sake wine blend of some kind.  It was a bit sour, so not my thing, but still, nice to get a free glass of sake.

Tuna on a stick

I ordered the tuna on sticks and it came out covered in a tasty sauce.  It was as good as it looked and I was tempted to order some rice to go with it, but that's kind of frowned upon in these places as you're supposed to drink and eat dishes that don't fill you up.  In any case I was really taken with the interesting display of seafood items to order and I pointed to the little tiny squid and the scallops and asked for some.  I was given a pleasantly arranged platter with some miso sauce to dip the little guys into.  They were remarkably tasty and not at all chewy.  The raw scallop was amazing as usual.

Tiny squid and hotate

I decided to call it quits before things got out of hand and I was forced to drink more sake.  I was astonished at the low price for all the food I'd had.  And the personality of the owner, staff and place were off the charts.  I really enjoyed it and would like to take my wife back some time.